thinking of growing sweet potatoes, could use some input

[catjac1975]

I have my slips growing in the living room in a plantable brown paper bag I will plant the whole thing in spring. I tried the japenese potatoes but they had white flesh the turned green when cooked not appetizing!!!
I get my slips from last years potatoes. I start them in January so that I can give them a head start. Good luck with your garden

Did they still taste like sweet potatoes?

 

[the1honeycomb]

No they were bitter

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

I know what kind of bitter you're talking about. Does the flavor of it remind you of some kind of medicine? I occasionally get it in plain old store-bought sweet taters. Would like to know what causes it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I grew up on sweet potatoes with white flesh that turned green when cooked. Nothing bitter about them at all. We lost that strain the year Dad had a heart attack and did not grow a garden.


You know how you are not supposed to eat a regular potato that has green skin or green flesh because of that chemical (I think it is called solanine but I’m too lazy to go look it up) that can cause harm to you. Sweet potatoes can get that too. A normal healthy person would probably need to eat more than 2 pounds of the green potatoes for it to cause harm, but small, old, or someone with a weak immune system are more susceptible.


What happens is when sunlight hits an exposed potato tuber it causes Chlorophyll to develop. That’s what turns the potato green. Chlorophyll is not the dangerous stuff but it’s a warning. The sunlight also causes that chemical solanine to develop at the same time. Solanine is bitter. It’s a warning to not eat it. It’s the same chemical that turns potato and tomato leaves bitter. I wonder if that was your problem?

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

I don't know about Honeycomb's, but the store bought sweet potatoes that I get have no green on them. The bitter is all at the tip of the potato, what would be the "blossom end" of a tomato, or maybe at the stem end.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

well i got a few locally grown sweets yesterday at the farmer's market. i'm sure they are Beauregard since that seems to be to one mentioned a lot in catalogs that grows best here in the north, and the red skin and orange flesh tell me too.

 

[journey11]

This is my first year growing sweet potatoes too (not counting as trailers in a pot of flowers). Now this is actually my THIRD attempt with trying to grow slips. I finally figured out that they needed to be warm to sprout and took the 'tater out of my drafty windowsill and moved it to the top of the cabinet in the bathroom. I got tons of slips off of one store-bought Beauregard.

But now I have a different problem! When I put the developed slips into water, all 7 or 8" long, some with roots, some with little nodules... They make lots of roots and I've had them sitting in a glass of water for over a month. I had several glasses full of them. One by one, they have all turned brown and died. Aren't they just supposed to sit in the water until time to plant? Or should I have put them in little pots of soil?

These were early volunteers. I still have plenty of time to try again. But I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth the trouble.

 

[catjac1975]

It was not worth the trouble to me. I had the same trouble as you did. Also if you start one from the grocery store it is probably treated to not grow and the variety may not be good for your zone. Though some seem to start them easily. If you do buy slips get them from a potato farm, and order them early as they sell out fast. They will ship them to you at your appropriate time. I have gotten dead moldy slips from a couple seed suppliers that happened to also sell slips. Then at that point it is too late to get them anywhere.

 

[journey11]

If you do buy slips get them from a potato farm, and order them early as they sell out fast.

I found that out last year when I tried to buy them from the feed store. They said they all sold out the day they got them in!

 

[catjac1975]

I found that out last year when I tried to buy them from the feed store. They said they all sold out the day they got them in!

I am amazed that the growers would run out. They may be small Mom and Pop businesses that can't afford the waste.